Chicago-based HealthJoy recently announced that it has raised $30mn in Series C funding round led by Health Velocity Capital. Existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, Chicago Ventures and Epic Ventures also participated in the funding round. With the latest infusion of funds, HealthJoy’s total funding so far stands at $53mn.
The company plans to use the new funding to add more features to the virtual assistant, develop new services for HealthJoy and build out its partnerships. HealthJoy also plans to add 200 employees in its Chicago office during 2021, with the goal of doubling its engineering team. Future plans include working with more small- to medium-sized businesses and a potential partnership to serve Medicare recipients.
In an email, Chief Marketing Officer of HealthJoy Rick Ramos said, “We keep employees engaged and educated year-round, meaning fewer questions for HR and a better employee benefits experience.”
Commenting on the recent investment, he added, “Our new funding will allow us to drastically improve our product and include additional intelligence into many parts of our product, including our virtual assistant. We want JOY to be more proactive and synthesize more real-time benefits information. We plan to improve every aspect of the member’s journey year-round.”
HealthJoy makes it easier for employees to access their health benefits by integrating healthcare service providers and partnering with benefit consultant agencies. Its features include an AI-based virtual assistant and healthcare concierges. The company’s app directs patients to a chatbot called JOY, which answers questions about health benefits and routes requests for more information to the right specialists.
The startup claims to have a monthly login rate of 33% and that its clients, which now includes 500 employers, see a tenfold increase in the employee use of benefits, including telemedicine.
HealthJoy also offers services to help users find prescription discounts or cheaper alternatives, and review medical bills for potential errors. It also has a feature that allows members to search providers for a certain procedure, such as a hip replacement, to find high quality, lower-cost providers. The startup recently added a new service that rewards patients for “shopping” for health services.
It is also being said that Health Velocity Capital partner Saurabh Bhansali will join HealthJoy’s board of directors.
In a press statement, Bhansali said: “HealthJoy offers proven technology solutions to help navigate employees through our nation’s complex and costly healthcare system, one that costs US employees over $1.2 trillion each year. HealthJoy has shown that it can deliver substantial cost savings to employers while simplifying the employee healthcare experience.”
HealthJoy was founded by technologists Justin Holland and Doug Morse-Schindler in 2014. Holland, who is now the CEO of HealthJoy, sold his previous startup FreeCause, which allowed loyalty programs to reward members for their online activity. Morse-Schindler became the startup’s President, after serving as a Senior Director of AVG Technologies, a subsidiary of Avast that develops anti-virus software.
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